Analyst: Mac Sales Grew Over 100% In January

[MacRumors]

According to Pacific Crest Securities (reported by AppleInsider), Mac sales grew over 100% year over year during the month of January.

The firm based its numbers on recent NPD data which had implied that "year-over-year growth in Mac unit sales accelerated in January to 101 percent, up from 55 percent in December." More specifically, Mac notebook sales jumped 194% year over year in January.

Additionally, the average selling price (ASP) for Macs appears to be increasing, which consequently is increasing revenues for Apple.

"Mac ASPs grew 4 percent in January on a year-over-year basis and 1 percent sequentially," wrote analyst Andy Hargreaves. "Apple's ability to maintain stable ASPs is a strong indicator of its brand equity and consumer demand, in our view."

While the numbers are hardly official, Hargreaves did note that over the past eight quarters, the first month of NPD data has been between 7% and 9% of Apple's reported quarterly Mac unit sales. Apple's last official quarterly earnings showed 28 percent growth in Mac sales.

[mattscott306]

Wow, mac grew in the face of vista, surprise surprise.
This does equate to market share increases right?

[longofest]

Originally Posted by mattscott306

Wow, mac grew in the face of vista, surprise surprise.
This does equate to market share increases right?

Assuming the market didn't also grow at a rate of over 100%, then yes.

[whooleytoo]

If true, those are some very impressive figures with a major OS release pending! You'd have expected a dip as people delayed their Mac purchase until 10.5 is released.

[mattscott306]

Originally Posted by whooleytoo

If true, those are some very impressive figures with a major OS release pending! You'd have expected a dip as people delayed their Mac purchase until 10.5 is released.

I wonder if most of it happened after macworld, when people realized it'll probably be a few more months till anything major came out.

[twoodcc]

Originally Posted by whooleytoo

If true, those are some very impressive figures with a major OS release pending! You'd have expected a dip as people delayed their Mac purchase until 10.5 is released.

yeah you're right.

wow, that is some amazing numbers! i hope they continue to rise, but i think the ASPs should decrease some though

[bearbo]

and those nice revenue from mac purchase, will mostly go right into the R&D for iphone, ipod, TV, etc etc... there aren't gonna be much left for mac R&D

[zero2dash]

Wow, great news for Apple.
While their prices are more than those of Windows PCs, obviously that's not scaring off people who (obviously) would rather start learning an OS from scratch than deal with Windows Vista and that's shocking in itself.

I can't wait to buy a Mac at home myself again...
WTF was Microsoft thinking with redesigning Vista and Office 2007 and abandoning the old look and feel of both? I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Redmond lately...

[BengalDuck]

Originally Posted by bearbo

and those nice revenue from mac purchase, will mostly go right into the R&D for iphone, ipod, TV, etc etc... there aren't gonna be much left for mac R&D

Sounds like the guy who would kill their own children because, hey, they're gonna die someday right? (That sounds much harsher than simply saying you're a glass is half-empty kinda guy, but it's conveying the same point).

[Rocketman]

The day before yesterday I issued a BUY on Apple stock. On the wierd market blip yesterday AAPL was down some 2% or so.

Today it is up over 4% and will get an added blip on this news.

Accumulate.

Rocketman

[mattscott306]

Originally Posted by BengalDuck

Sounds like the guy who would kill their own children because, hey, they're gonna die someday right? (That sounds much harsher than simply saying you're a glass is half-empty kinda guy, but it's conveying the same point).

Woa, I think there is going to be a demand for Macs for quite a while. I mean, using that aditude, why even research anything, something better will always come up.

[danielwsmithee]

Two things caused this massive increase in sales in my mind.

1) Vista, many people saw they were going to need a new computer anyways so why not look at other options.

2) After Christmas returns. I have a good friend that works at an Apple store. One of the things she has noticed is in January they got a lot of people buying MacBooks/MacBook Pros that had been given a PC for christmas. Many people returned the crappy PC and added some money of their own and got a Mac. I heard of one person who had returned 4 seperate PCs because she was so frustrated by all the installed adware. Finally someone suggested a Mac.

[puuukeey]

can anyone compare this to computer sales in general? I bet we wooped everyone else ass in growth

TAKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE

[siurpeeman]

Originally Posted by whooleytoo

You'd have expected a dip as people delayed their Mac purchase until 10.5 is released.

i'd imagine the sales growth to be largely responsible by first time mac users (switchers) who are mostly unaware of leopard's impending release.

[Rocketman]

Originally Posted by puuukeey

can anyone compare this to computer sales in general? I bet we wooped everyone else ass in growth

TAKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE

The Apple party line is sales growth is over 4x comparable sellers.

This report might substantially increase that.

It is clearly good news, if nothing else.

Apple notably also has substantially higher profit margins, so if you are a stock investor, the prospects for growth are also higher.

Rocketman

[Maccus Aurelius]

Well this should be reassurance that Apple will not likely abandon the Mac, though I wish they would abandon those now hackneyed commercials.

I'm not surprised by the boost in sales for the notebooks. They're very slick pieces of machinery and oh so desirable. The appeal they draw despite the serious issues of the first wave (I myself was a victim of macbook RSD), is amazing.

People can say what they want, but it isn't this "reality distortion field" that gets people to buy them. I've seen people sit there and oggle at the iMacs and macbooks in the Apple stores here and suddenly scoop them up. A friend of mine who works for Apple says that many that he's sold to people were to those that have never actually owned one before, but were impressed by the look and feel of the whole thing. I'll bet that most of those people out there that say the computers are inferior and cheaply built don't consider the fact that they also have the lowest rate of returns. This is sure to keep Apple on the Mac, and keep me very happy indeed.

Edit: I think it's weird that people put negatives for stories that don't seem to have any negative aspects at all. If Apple accidentally cured cancer, someone would put a negative for that too!

[princealfie]

Vista caused it!

[Maccus Aurelius]

Yo Alfie. waddup. Gimme the laptop with the broken HD since you refuse to give me the Pismo!

[Phobophobia]

This is awesome news, I can't wait to see what Apple has in store for us regarding computers.

[rweidmann]

clearly Apple is growing fast. However we should not forget that Apple announced the MacBook Pro last january but didn't ship it until later. This means last january sales were probably pretty dismal. Still impressive growth.

[Maccus Aurelius]

Yeah, I hope Apple doesn't start with this "Inc means we make microwaves" sort of mentality. I'd hate for them to stretch out to so many other types of devices. Heck, I was still a bit skeptical about their cell phone, and still am actually. Their ATV is a touchy issue still as well.

The only tried and true product lines that they have are the Macs and iPods. I think they should always maintain focus and new ideas on these two categories since these are the places they've always had the most recognition from. I'd hate to suddenly see an apple branded school calculator or something.

[bigandy]

very good

i'm responsible for two of those purchases though, and i've converted a few friends over

[mattscott306]

Originally Posted by Maccus Aurelius

Yeah, I hope Apple doesn't start with this "Inc means we make microwaves" sort of mentality. I'd hate for them to stretch out to so many other types of devices. Heck, I was still a bit skeptical about their cell phone, and still am actually. Their ATV is a touchy issue still as well.

The only tried and true product lines that they have are the Macs and iPods. I think they should always maintain focus and new ideas on these two categories since these are the places they've always had the most recognition from. I'd hate to suddenly see an apple branded school calculator or something.

Yeah, but the same thing was said about then iPod when it came out. As long as apple keeps putting out quality products, I'll keep my faith in them. Even if they screw up once or twice (quicktake anyone) I'll still see the silver lining.

[dontmatter]

That much better then december? Nothing was released this january (was something last year?), it's the weak after christmas quarter, I absolutely don't buy those numbers. I'd believe numbers of significant growth, but 100% is just too much. This january was overall weak on durable goods, too. I'd love to believe it, but I just can't.

[plinden]

PC sales were up 67% over 2006 in the week following the release of Vista - http://www.twice.com/article/CA64180...dustryid=23098